Socket connector assembly



NOV. 10, 1970 g, MQREHART ETAL 3,539,955

SOCKET CONNECTOR ASSEMBLY Filed June 28, 1968 W W: a m

flrroe/wsys United States Patent 3,539,965 SOCKET CONNECTOR ASSEMBLY Ronald C. Morehart and Byron C. Conrad, Columbus, Nebr., assignors to Dale Electronics, Inc., Columbus, Nebr., a corporation of Nebraska Filed June 28, 1968, Ser. No. 741,096 Int. Cl. H01r 13/42; Hk 1/10 US. Cl. 339- 17 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A socket connector assembly including a socket and a connector block. The connector block has at least one elongated cavity extending therethrough which is circular in cross-section for a majority of its length. The cavity has a flat anti-rotational surface formed therein and is also provided with a slot in communication with the cavity. The contact socket is comprised of an elongated cylindrical socket adapted to be received by the cavity and having a cut-out section adapted to engage the flat anti-rotational surface within the cavity to prevent rotation of the socket with respect to the connector block. The socket also has a lance extending outwardly therefrom which engages the slot in the cavity to detachably maintain the socket therein. The socket is provided with a plurality of contact springs extending inwardly from its wall surface into its interior in a staggered manner.

Conventional contact sockets or connector sockets have been found to be generally unsatisfactory for a number of reasons. The conventional sockets require a relatively large amount of pressure to be applied to the contact plug when inserting the plug into the contact or withdrawing the same from the contact. Additionally, the sockets, when mounted in connector blocks or the like, do not have a satisfactory means for preventing rotational movement of the socket with respect to the block. Further, the sockets are not conveniently removable from the blocks for replacement.

Therefore, it is a principal object of this invention to provide a socket connector assembly including a connector block and a socket removably mounted therein.

A further object of this invention is to provide a socket connector assembly including a connector block and a socket removably mounted therein which is provided with means to prevent rotational movement between the socket and the connector block.

A further object of this invention is to provide a socket connector assembly including a connector block and a socket and means to removably maintain the socket in a cavity formed in the connector block.

A further object of this invention is to provide a socket connector assembly including a socket having a plurality of staggered contact points extending inwardly thereinto thereby providing a multiple of contacting areas between the socket and the plug inserted thereinto.

A further object of this invention is to provide a socket connector assembly including a socket which permits the insertion and withdrawal of a plug thereinto with a small amount of pressure.

A further object of this invention is to provide a socket connector assembly which eliminates vibration problems.

A further object of this invention is to provide a socket connector assembly including a one-piece socket.

A further object of this invention is to provide a socket connector assembly which is economical of manufacture, durable in use and refined in appearance.

These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

This invention consists in the construction, arrangeice ments, and combination of the various parts of the device, whereby the objects contemplated are attained as hereinafter more fully set forth, specifically pointed out in the claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of a connector block having a plurality of sockets mounted therein, the broken lines indicating printed circuit boards or the like which may be mounted on opposite sides of the connector block;

FIG. 2 is a bottom perspective view of the connector block having a plurality of sockets mounted therein;

FIG. 3 is an exploded view illustrating the manner in which the socket is inserted into the connector block which is shown in section;

FIG. 4 is an end view of the socket as seen along lines 4-4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view as seen along lines 5-5 of FIG. 1 with the printed circuit boards being shown in section;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged sectional view as seen along lines 66- of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary elevational view of the spring contact portion of the socket;

FIG. 8 is a view similar to FIG. 7 except that a portion of the spring contacts have been cut away to more fully illustrate the invention; and

FIG. 9 is an elevational view as seen along lines 9--9 of FIG. 7 with a portion of the contact springs cut away to more fully illustrate the invention.

The numeral 10 generally designates the socket connector assembly including a connector block 11 and a plurality of sockets 13, each of which are mounted in a cavity 15 in the connector block 11. Connector block 11 is provided with a pair of mounting holes 17 and 19 extending therethrough at its opposite ends as best seen in FIG. 1.

The configuration of each of the cavities 15 is best illustrated in FIG. 3 and is circular in cross-section for a majority of its length which is generally designated by the reference numeral 21 for purposes of description. The connector block 11 is provided with a flat anti-rotational surface 23 which is in communication with the cavity 15 as illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 6. A slot 25 is also formed in connector block 11 which is in communication with each of the cavities 15 opposite to the anti-rotational surface 23 as illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 6. The lower ends of slot 25 is defined by a shoulder 27 while the upper end of the circular portion 21 of cavity 15 is defined by a shoulder 29. As best seen in FIG. 1, the upper ends of each of the cavities 15 are substantially square and are each provided with a cut-out portion 31 which is designed to aid in the removal of the socket 13 from the cavity 15.

Socket 13 includes a tubular portion 33- having a solder tab 35 extending downwardly from the lower end thereof and a solder tab 36 extending upwardly from the upper end thereof. It should be noted that the socket 13 may have a variety of different end configurations for different types of terminations such as wrap-type posts or solder tabs. Socket 13 is formed by rolling a flat sheet of material into the cylindrical shape seen in the drawings and the socket 13 is provided with a cut-out portion 37 which is defined by a shoulder means 39 and a flat portion 41. Socket 13 is provided with a locking lance 43 extending outwardly from the side thereof adjacent the upper end thereof as seen in FIG. 3. The lower end 45 of locking lance 43 is normally spaced outwardly of the side of socket 13 but will be deflected towards socket 13 as the socket 13 is inserted into the cavity 15.

Socket 13 is provided with a staggered contact area 47 which is formed by six contact springs 49, 51, 53, 55, 57

and 59 extending inwardly into the interior of the socket 13. As seen in FIGS. 7, 8 and 9, contact springs 49 and 51 oppose each other, contact springs 53 and 55 oppose each other and contact springs 57 and 59 oppose each other. Thus, the opposing areas of contact springs 49 and 51 are positioned below the opposing areas of contact springs 57 and 59 which in turn are positioned below the opposing contact areas of contact springs 53 and 55. The numeral 61 generally designates a male contact plug which is adapted to be received by the interior of socket 13 as will be explained later. The numerals 63 and 65 designate printed circuit boards which are positioned at opposite sides of the connector block 11 if desired and FIG. shows that the tabs 36 and 35 are received by openings in the circuit boards 63 and 65 and are soldered thereto to effect the electrical connection therebetween. Obviously, the connector block 11 and socket 13 are suitable for use in any environment and the circuit boards 63 and 65 have been merely shown for illustrative purposes only. The connector block 11 is preferably constructed of a diallyl phthalate material while the socket 13 is preferably constructed of a thin material such as Phosphor bronze or beryllium copper material.

In use, the socket 113 is inserted into the cavity 15 from the lower end thereof until shoulder portion 39 of socket 13 engages the shoulder 29 in cavity 15. The surface 41 of socket 13 engages the flat anti-rotational surface 23 of the cavity 15 and this engagement prevents any rotational movement of the socket 13 with respectto the cavity 15. Simultaneously with the engagement of the shoulder portion 39 and the shoulder 29, locking lance 43 will move outwardly from socket 13 into the slot 27 so that the lower end 45 of locking lance 43 engages the shoulder 27 of slot to detachably maintain the socket 13 in the cavity 15. When it is desired to remove the socket 13 from the cavity 15, it is simply necessary to insert a suitable tool through the cut out area 31 and the slot 25 to cause the locking lance 43 to be moved out of its engagement with slot 25 and thence removing the socket 13 from cavity 15.

When the socket 13 is mounted in the cavity 15, assuming that the circuit boards 63 and 65 or the equivalent thereof are mounted on opposite sides of the connector block 11, the plug 61 is inserted into the interior of socket 13 and moved upwardly thereinto with respect thereto. The staggered contact area of the socket 13 is such that the opposing contact areas of contacts 49 and 51 will be the first contacts engaged by the upper end of the plug 61. The continued upward movement of the plug 61 will cause the plug to move into engagement with the opposing contacts 57 and 59 and thence move into engagement with the opposing contacts 53 and 55. It can therefore be seen that very little insertion pressure is required to insert the plug 61 into the socket 13 as only two contacts are initially engaged and spread. After initial entry, the resistance lessens and the plug 61 then successively engages the opposing pairs of contacts. Thus, little low insertion and withdrawal pressure is required to insert the plug into the socket and withdraw the same from the socket. It can also be appreciated that the plug 61 engages the socket 13 at multiple points. The low insertion and withdrawal pressure prevents damage to the socket 13 during the same as well as providing an efficient connection therebetween. The configuration of the socket and the cavity 15 is also such that vibration problems will not 60 be encountered. Thus it can be seen that the device accomplishes at least all of its stated objectives.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of our socket connector assembly without departing from thereal spirit and purpose of our invention, and it is our intention to cover by our claims, any modified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents which may be reasonably included within their scope.

We claim:

1. An electrical contact socket, comprising,

an elongated cylindrical member having opposite ends and being adapted to receive a contact plug at one end thereof and adapted to be electrically connected to an electrical means,

said cylindrical member having a plurality of axially extending spaced apart contact springs, each of said contact springs having an inwardly bowed portion which extends into the interior of said cylindrical member,

the inwardly bowed portion of each of said contact springs being formed so as to present an opposing surface to an opposing inwardly bowed portion,

the opposing surfaces of each pair of the inwardly bowed portions of the contact springs being axially spaced with respect to the other pairs of the inwardly bowed portions so that the contact plug will successively engage pairs of inwardly bowed portions upon being inserted into said cylindrical member.

2. The socket of claim 1 wherein said inwardly bowed portions yieldably resist the insertion of the contact plug and are moved outwardly as the plug is inserted thereinto.

3. In combination,

a connector block means having at least one elongated cavity formed therein, said cavity having opposite ends,

an elongated cylindrical socket member having opposite ends and being adapted to receive a contact plug at one end thereof and adapted to be electrically connected to an electrical means,

said socket member being adapted to be slidably received by said cavity from said one end of said cavity,

said cylindrical member having a plurality of axially extending spaced apart contact springs, each of said contact springs having an inwardly bowed portion which extends into the interior of said cylindrical member,

the inwardly bowed portion of each of said contact springs being formed so as to present an opposing surface to an opposing inwardly bowed portion,

the opposing surfaces of each pair of the inwardly bowed portions of the contact springs being axially spaced with respect to the other pairs of the inwardly bowed portions so that the contact plug will successively engage pairs of inwardly bowed portions upon being inserted into said cylindrical member.

- 4. The combination of claim 3 wherein said electrical means is a circuit board means positioned adjacent said connector block means, said cylindrical member having a termination means on at least one end thereof adapted to be electrically connected to said circuit board means.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,3 32,483 10/1943 Doty. 2,337,692 12/1943 Todd 339-193 XR 2,866,174 12/1958 Giirike. 3,404,367 10/1968 Henschen 339-256 XR FOREIGN PATENTS 684,703 12/ 1952 Great Britain. 959,500 6/ 1964 Great Britain. 105,134 9/1964 Norway.

MARVIN A. CHAMPION, Primary Examiner P. A. CLIFFORD, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

